This tutorial is for every lampworker who has wanted to make murrini but didn’t because they were intimidated by the process, or perhaps has tried making murrini – spending many hours at the torch and using up lots of glass – only to be disappointed with the end result.

I was one of those lampworkers myself. I spent more hours and wasted more glass than I care to admit making hundreds of murrini canes with nothing worth using to show for it. Until, after much trial and error, I finally developed a fool-proof method and a series of reliable techniques, tips and tricks that helped me produce consistent results every time.

Once you learn to successfully make your own murrini cane the sky’s the limit! You can make custom designs anytime you want, in any colors you want. You can make murrini specifically for the style of beads you create.

You will be able to set your beads apart from the crowd making them more unique and individualized with murrini in color combinations and patterns you develop that are unavailable anywhere else.

You can even sell or share your extra murrini with other lampworkers (or fusers)!

Topics covered this tutorial include:

*Learn to create a 5 layer murrini design with up to 24 outer stripes (that will look like 48!)
*Choosing the best colors (I use COE 104 but you can easily adapt these tips and techniques to other COE glass)
*How to know which colors will work well together (and which colors to avoid)
*The entire process of making murrini cane from start to finish, step-by-step
*How to remove trapped air bubbles from encasing
*Getting multiple stringer lines spaced evenly and straight all the way around
*What to do when your stringer pops off unexpectedly
*Pulling the cane to a uniform diameter
*What to do with waste glass leftover from making murrini cane
*How best to apply murrini chips to your beads
…and tons more…

Making murrini can be intimidating but it doesn’t have to be. When broken down into easy-to-follow instructions, (with color photos guiding you every step of the way), you will have all the information you need – and the confidence – to successfully create beautiful, miniature designs in murrini that will take your beads to the next level.

This tutorial is written with the intermediate to advanced glass artist in mind who is well familiar with all aspects of lampworking including working with an open flame, melting glass rods, all safety precautions, etc.

However, if you consider yourself a beginner and are thinking about purchasing this tutorial but are unsure if you will benefit from it, please contact me. I may be able to help you decide if this tutorial is right for you at your current level of experience. :-)

Discussion

5 thoughts on “NEW Tutorial! “Making Beautiful Murrini””

Hello! I’m still not a glass artist, but I have been taking information for a long time, and I want to try it soon.. I founded you on etsy, and then check your Facebook and blog, and after see this article, I’m very interested in learn to do murrini too!! When do you think I will be ready?
I have the information of lots of techniques, different designs of beads, different materials.. different types of glass.. all the material needed…
The thing I don’t understand yet is why are some glass incompatible and what will pass if I mix them! Thank you very much for all and I will ask about this tutorial in the future because you are right this intimidate a lot! Greetings!

Hello, thanks for your note :) I usually recommend holding off on trying to make complex murrini until you’re comfortable working with a large amount of glass in the flame for up to an hour. The reason you can’t mix incompatible glass is because your beads will crack. Different types of glass have different ‘coefficients of expansion’ (COE). Soft glass (Moretti/Effetre) is COE 104, there are other types of glass which is around COE 96 (Bullseye) and lower (boro). Each COE cools and heats up at different rates therefore mixing glasses of different COE’s will not work. I would encourage you to visit http://www.lampworketc.com and search for topics you have questions about. You will find an amazing amount of information there to help get you started making beads :D